Star Trek model kits
The development of Star Trek model kits began shortly after Star Trek: The Original Series began to air in . AMT acquired the license to produce plastic model kits based on the series and announced their plan to produce a kit of the . The model's resounding success at retail prompted AMT's development of a follow-up kit, resulting in the creation of the Klingon battle cruiser in . It was specifically designed for AMT by Matt Jefferies. The D7 design was soon featured in the third season of Star Trek by the show's producers. These two models were the only Star Trek models AMT released while The Original Series was still in production. The only other company, besides AMT/Aurora, that produced model kits while the series was in production, though only just barely, was the Japanese company KSN Midori, in the guise of two differently sized USS Enterprise kits, for the Japanese market only. Over the next decade, and after The Original Series had wrapped, AMT would expand upon the line to include the Romulan Bird-of-Prey, a Spock figure kit, and scaled versions of Star Trek props. Originally, AMT chose not to license the Star Trek name outside of the US. Aurora Plastics Corporation, another noted model kit company, leased AMT's molds and released the models outside of the US. The Spock figure kit originated from Aurora but a reciprocal leasing agreement gave AMT the exclusive rights to release the figure in the US. AMT bought the Spock figure's tooling from Aurora in . At the release of , AMT was owned by (or rather its parent company Lesney Products & Co. Ltd.) and began to expand its range to include the Enterprise (refit), the battle cruiser, and the long range shuttle. AMT would continue to release kits based on Star Trek movies following its acquisition by the Ertl Company in . AMT/Ertl later gained the licenses to produce model kits based on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Revell-Monogram were able to outbid AMT/Ertl to license ships from Voyager. AMT/Ertl's original Star Trek line came to an end in . Following AMT/Ertl's merger with Racing Champions, the company tried to revive the Star Trek line with four re-releases in . The line's revival strongly improved after when the AMT division was acquired by Round 2 LLC and was given a new and unique AMT branding. Since the 1990s, many other companies including GEOmetric Design, Tsukuda Hobby, Polar Lights, and Bandai have been licensed to produce plastic Star Trek model kits. Licensed model kit chronology "Garage" model kits Over the years, a large number of unlicensed and often short-lived companies, dubbed "garage kit makers" by the model kit community, have produced Star Trek model kits. These "companies" often feature lesser-known canon or fan-designed non-canon classes of starships and are typically made of glass reinforced plastic (GRP), commonly referred to as "fiberglass"" or "resin" (somewhat incorrectly, as it this term also refers to more modern composite plastic materials). Fiberglass "Conversion kits" to improve or customize officially-released models have also been released, along with "aztec-ing" painting templates, and custom decals. UK-based "Warp Models" (one of the first), "Starcrafts Models", "Federation Models" and "Nova Hobbies" are among the best-known unlicensed garage kit makers. "Warp Models" in particular was noteworthy, as they only produced canon ships and where possible in-scale with the AMT products. For , John Eaves used a garage kit of the USS Enterprise-C to create gold models of it which were used in the USS Enterprise-E's Observation Lounge.http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/the-golden-enterprise/ Appendices See also * Star Trek starship miniatures External links *Selection of "garage" companies producing unlicensed model kits at federationmodels.com *An exhaustive listing of Star Trek model kits produced by licensed and unlicensed companies at starshipmodeler.com Category:Collectibles